Tuesday, 14 August, 2007

by Siobhain Ryan
The Australian

A US-backed proposal to set up a nuclear energy club, potentially including Australia, holds "considerable appeal", a government advocate of nuclear power has said.

Ziggy Switkowski, chairman of the Australian National Science and Technology Organisation, said the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership was a "conceptually appealing" framework for safely expanding the industry internationally.

The plan, supported by the US for economic and security reasons, is expected to encourage a select number of friendly nations supplying nuclear fuel to reactors overseas to take back and store the waste generated by their customers.

It is likely to be discussed at an annual nuclear energy forum next month, where Australia will be an observer. "As more countries go nuclear ... they will find it very appealing to be able to source enriched uranium and fuel rods from a supplier which will also be responsible for the management and storage of spent fuel," Dr Switkowski said.

The former nuclear physicist and Telstra chief executive, who chaired a recent government taskforce into options for developing a nuclear power industry for Australia, considers it the country's "only real option" in curbing its energy emissions without stalling the economy.

Australia is one of the world's biggest uranium miners and the Howard Government has shown interest in moving the country up the global nuclear energy supply chain.

But it has ruled out accepting nuclear waste from other countries as part of any new arrangement.

Dr Switkowski said the group's charter and membership might take a year or more to decide, given the challenges in one nation accepting another's nuclear waste.

"But we'll know more in September," he said.